He explains: “small teams with short schedules, tight budgets, and deep commitments to simplicity — in other words, teams with a constraint mindset — are not only more creative, but also more effective. Small teams consistently outperform large, unconstrained teams who pursue complexity and adopt a “take your time, spare no expense” mentality.

He also offers four specific rules:

1. Constraints foster creativity.

2. Constraints foster focus.

3. Long timelines increase exposure to change.

4. Delays foster delays.

Bottom line: “we tend to do the most when we have the least.”

Tom again: I am of course sympathetic to this view. I think that over the last 15 years, Pentagoners grew accustomed to blank check budgets. Lots of money got wasted erecting unnecessary buildings, I suspect. We now have a generation of younger officers who have never really had to think about cutting the defense budget.

Money is no substitute for thinking. Example: Imagine how many billions of dollars — let alone lives — we might have saved had we pursued an intelligent strategy in Afghanistan.